


Let Sleeping Gods Lie

by StellarCorpses



Category: Hilda (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Giants, Gods, I could tell you the correct form of 'toward' but not what a sorcerer is, Kelly - Freeform, Light Angst, Pigtails Marra, References to Norse Religion & Lore, The Marra - Freeform, Very light angst like very light angst, Witchcraft, also inaccurate, but not very accurate ones, entirely too much research devoted to things which don't matter, the librarian is a mentor kinda but she lets well enough alone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:14:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21954946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellarCorpses/pseuds/StellarCorpses
Summary: For the HFN Secret Santa!The librarian needs help to send the Aesir to sleep. David is especially brave.
Relationships: David & Frida & Hilda (Hilda)
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

Little was known about the librarian. She was a witch. No, a mystery. No, a symbol, of every perfect librarian you've ever met, the children's librarian who taught you to think and the kindly librarian who knows just the book you need and the enigmatic librarian who floats between the stacks and laughs like windchimes and spring peepers. No, that's silly, she's a person like anyone else. She's just a librarian. (Never underestimate a good librarian.) Little was known about the librarian - not even a name! - but much was suspected. So when flyers swirled through the streets, begging assistant librarians, offering summer work, there were only three applicants.

"I don't know about this," whispered David worriedly.

"You don't know about _anything_ ,"

"No need to be so snippy, Frida," David mumbled to the floorboards.

"You know about plenty of things, David." Hilda shot Frida a look. "Just… not this one." She grinned. "It'll be an adventure!" David groaned.

"You've got a bug in your hair." The three jumped.

"Don't _do_ that!" David squeaked.

"Well, you have got," the librarian shrugged by way of an excuse.

"Not that. The- the _materializing_ out of thin air. It's _frightening_." David crossed his arms.

"Ah,"

"Well?" asked Hilda impatiently.

"Well?" the librarian repeated.

"Who got the job?"

"Oh." The librarian rummaged in the folds of her cloak and produced a bit of paper, which she brandished importantly. "The assistant librarians of the Trollberg Public Library are as follows: Frida, David, and Hilda,"

" _All_ of us?" Frida stepped forward.

"You were the only applicants," the librarian admitted.

"This is a bad idea," David whispered urgently.

"What's so scary about some dusty old books?" Hilda teased.

" _Plenty_." David muttered, mostly to himself.

"Are you the only librarian?" Hilda asked.

"Yes,"

"Well, no wonder you needed assistants!" Frida remarked.

"I manage just fine on my own, thank you. But a librarian's job is… complicated. It's more than just shelving books and checking people out,"

"What else is there?" asked David, perplexed.

"Keeping the dark forces at bay," the librarian replied matter-of-factly.

"I beg your pardon?" David squeaked at the same time Hilda exclaimed, "An adventure!"

"What ' _dark forces_?'" Frida asked skeptically, "And what do you need us for?"

"Old things stir in Trollberg. When they wake, the scales might just tip in their favor. We'd be plunged into chaos." The librarian took on a conspiratorial tone. She held read-alouds for hyper children at quarter to three every other Thursday; she was an exceptional storyteller.

The three were utterly enthralled. "What old things?" Hilda whispered, unwilling to break the librarian's spell.

"Gods of old. The Aesir, they're called. They are necessary to maintain balance, but they are warlike gods and their battles… they tend to have casualties. It is very difficult for a person to kill a god. Not so much for a god to kill a person.

"There are other gods, the Vanir, but their sleep is deeper. They are slow to anger, and they are not much help in battle. They are powerful in the way a river or a story is, winding and persuasive and sometimes even dangerous, but unmalicious."

"They aren't much help, then, are they?" Frida said.

"In a battle? No. But try asking Thor to plan and execute a public garden,"

"I like the Vanir. The Aesir sound very rude," Hilda decided.

"They each have their place. Your understanding, Hilda, and your kindness, and the wilderness, that's the Vanir, yes. But your defiance? That has Aesir written all over it,"

"That's what always gets me into trouble," Hilda said.

"And what gets you out of it. Who would you be if you stayed out of trouble? 'Trouble' is the unadventurous word for adventure. And this is going to be some adventure."

"What kind of adventure? What do you need us for?" Frida asked.

"We're casting a spell, of sorts. Most spells I can cast on my own, but a spell this powerful requires a coven,"

"Oh, no. No! Adventures always go sideways, and it goes double for adventures with _spells_!"

"Of course, David, you're welcome to resign. None of us will hold it against you. It's up to you,"

"Well, good. Good." David said. "…What would I have to do? If I decided to stay, that is,"

"You have the most important job of all, should you choose to accept it. You see, most spells involve a sort of chant, but an enchantment like this is best sung,"

"You want me to sing them to sleep?"

"That about sums it up, yeah," the librarian agreed. She dropped her conspiratorial tone and smiled.

David considered carefully a moment. "I'm in."

\- - -

Frida pored over the spellbooks in the library's secret back room, searching for the safest and most potent incantation. When she found a spell she thought might work, she'd pass it on to David and Hilda. Testing the spells was a tricky business. They had one shot at this with the real deal (have you ever tried sending a child to bed who wasn't sleepy, who was a "big kid?" One does not patronize the gods of war). They couldn't risk using a spell on the Aesir that hadn't been tested, but there was no surefire, ethical way to go about testing their enchantments on other people.

"I'll do it," David volunteered.

"What?" asked Frida and Hilda, at the same time the librarian said, "No,"

"I've got a plan," David insisted. He approached the librarian and whispered something in her ear. She was silent a long time.

"If you're sure," she conceded.

"Certain," he said defiantly.

"Go ask them, then. I'm sure they'll agree. You know where to find them?"

"I think so,"

"Be careful,"

David left. He did not agree to be careful; he tried to avoid making promises he wasn't sure he could keep.

\- - -

Every day, Frida searched for the enchantment that would calm the gods, and every night Hilda sang the spells Frida taught her. She was no David, but she could carry a tune, and she had an affinity for incantations. Every morning, David would wake from a deep sleep. Every night his slumber was deeper than the previous. The first few nights he woke up shouting, but shouts became whimpers, which in turn became only a vacant stare and an unwillingness to return to bed.

Frida and Hilda worried when David dozed off, spellbooks for pillows, despite his claims of deep, uninterrupted sleep the night before. He had a haunted way about him. Meanwhile, the girls noticed that they'd been sleeping more soundly themselves. Neither of them had had an unpleasant dream in over a week.

"Do you think the spell is affecting us, too?" Hilda asked the librarian.

The librarian pursed her lips grimly. "No," she said; she neglected to elaborate. Hilda and Frida exchanged a worried look.

"Why are we sleeping well, then, if David…" Frida gestured at her friend, fast asleep on _Sweet Dreams and Bitter Brews: The Young Witches' Guide to Valerian Root_. " _isn't_ ," she finished.

The librarian opened her mouth as if to say something, then thought better of it. "Why don't you ask him?" she said, adding, "When he wakes up."


	2. Chapter 2

_David writhed, causing the vines that held him fast to tighten their grip. He felt a sharp pinch on his hand, where blood blossomed from a tiny bite mark. He felt another pinch, on his ear, then one on his knee. They weren't vines that bound him, then. They were rats. He tried to call out, but he felt as though his mouth was stuffed with cotton. He didn't have the energy to yell, at any rate. His thrashing grew sluggish, and he slipped into a deep darkness. It was a comfortable darkness, easy, easier than the world he'd just occupied, but it felt wrong for reasons he could no longer place. He lashed out one last time-_

David woke among tangled bedding, pulse racing. The nightmares were getting worse, but he was glad for it. They were better than the alternative - the inescapable darkness, the starless night. The Marra delighted in tormenting him, but it was a necessary evil; the inky, thoughtless nothing was far more frightening. David was afraid he'd never wake. That was the idea, after all. Ultimately. Still, they were the worst nightmares he'd ever experienced. As insurance against the darkness, he'd asked the Marra for nightmares strong enough to wake him from a dead sleep. They'd gleefully complied. _All_ of them.

_"Oh, of course we'll help you, David!"_

_"We're nothing if not charitable,"_

_"Only…"_

_"Only?"_

_"Like, it's a lot of work for one kid,"_

_"What if we get rusty, forget how to scare_ normal _kids-"_

_"-who_ don't _jump at their own shadows-"_

_"-hmm?"_

_"Well- well I-"_

_"We're gonna have to work out a deal,"_

_"Of- of course,"_

_"The nightmares don't stop when you stop needing them,"_

_"You're not getting rid of us that easy,"_

_"No, no of course not. Wouldn't- wouldn't dream of it,"_

_"Excellent! You've got yourself a deal, fraidy-cat,"_

_"Right. Yeah."_

Be careful, the librarian had said. Be careful.

David looked at the clock. 3:24. There'd be no getting back to sleep now, he knew. Not that he wanted to. Oh, well. He could get to work on some Sparrow Scout badges or something. There's plenty of uninterrupted free time at half past three in the morning. He leafed through the laminated pages of his _Official Sparrow Scout Badge Binder_ (fourth edition).

"Botanical illustration badge… needlepoint badge… subterranean urban exploration badge- got that one," he mumbled to himself. "What's this? Slumber party badge, that could be fun… 'track your sleep schedule and make improvements for healthy and restful sleep.'" He slammed the binder shut. "Nope. No more _flippin'_ Sparrow Scout badges for tonight, I don't think. I'll just… stare at the wall until sunrise. Again." David sighed. He zoned out for a couple of hours, which, as the _Badge Binder Companion and Informational Booklet_ (volume six) entry for the slumber party badge will tell you, isn't healthy.

\- - -

David jolted awake.

"Sorry, David!" Frida winced apologetically, gathering fallen spellbooks onto a cart. The librarian glided over to help. She stopped dead.

"…I think you'll find that this is the book you're looking for," she whispered absently. She slid out an enormous book which lay flat on the shelf, where it had been obscured by the books which now occupied the teetering card. Its spine was hard leather, nondescript and unembellished, and it blended in with the bookshelf like a false bottom. Its cover, now visible, read in elegant script, _Incantations for the Discerning Sorcerer: a pocket manual_.

"Pocket manual?" repeated Frida incredulously.

"For a giant, maybe," Hilda giggled.

"Yes, actually." the librarian said. "The Aesir and the giants… didn't really get along. The giants wanted to return to primordial chaos. The Aesir, they killed a lot of giants,"

"I know a couple of old giants, and they don't seem like the 'primordial chaos' type," Hilda argued.

"No, most people tend to favor order and security in practice. But the giants were fated to win, the gods to lose. The giants had been losing for a very long time. Sometimes, people fight for the wrong thing because they are really fighting for hope,"

Hilda considered this a moment. "But they left before they could win," she said at last.

"Yes," the librarian agreed.

"The giants have had a lot of hardships," Hilda decided.

"Yes."

\- - -

Frida eagerly examined the manuscript. Though rather large, its text was equally enormous, and Frida made quick work of it. As she studied, Hilda approached David cautiously.

"Are you alright, David?"

"Yes," David said defensively.

"Because it's okay _not_ to be alright, of course,"

"I know! I am frequently not alright, you know. Usually it's your fault,"

"And you'd tell me if it was." It wasn't a question. He often told her at great length how her adventures would be the death of him. This was just one more Hilda Adventure. He had nothing to hide.

Only-

Only this wasn't any old Hilda Adventure. This was important, and it was his responsibility. If they all knew how bad it was… Hilda would be concerned, and Frida would be concerned, and presumably the librarian would be concerned, too; she _was_ the adult in this situation, not to mention the trio's employer. And they'd say, _stop!_ And they'd say, _there's another way, there has to be!_ And there wouldn't be, not in time, at least, and the Aesir would wake up, and they'd _all_ be in danger. So David kept his flippin' mouth shut.

"So you don't know why Frida and I haven't been getting any nightmares, then?" Hilda asked.

"I, uh, I heard the highschoolers have a lot of summer reading. So. The Marra are probably just. Studying." David wouldn't meet her eye.

  
"Right. _Studying._ " Hilda squinted suspiciously. The Marra were not exemplary students; Hilda didn't buy it for a second. This called for a Hilda Adventure.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I made myself sad writing this. Enjoy!

_Frida,_

_Meet me at the edge of the woods at midnight. I'll explain on the way._

Hilda paused, tapping a stubby pencil against her chin, then added, _Be sure to dispose of this note properly. The Rat King mustn't find it._

_All the best,_

_Hilda_

There. She would sing her incantation, David would drift off, and she could meet Frida by twelve. She slipped the note into Frida's book and disappeared into the stacks. (Someday, she might make a very good librarian, assuming it was her sort of adventure.)

\- - -

"There is no summer reading, the high school abolished it years ago!" Frida whispered fiercely. "It's a _travesty_ ,"

"I _knew_ something sounded suspicious. Why would he lie to me about the Marra? It hadn't even occurred to me that they might be behind all this. At any rate, they're our best bet as to whatever's going on with David." Hilda concluded. "Give me a boost, I can help you over the wall from the top,"

On the other side of the wall, Hilda and Frida crept through the dark woods until they reached the Marra's fire pit. It was stone cold.

"Huh. That's odd," Hilda remarked.

"Well, what do we do now?"

"Now, we wait." Hilda crouched behind a wide oak tree. "You can sleep, if you'd like. I'll keep watch,"

The two were woken by cackling laughter and arcing green lights. They scrambled for cover behind Hilda's oak as the fire roared to life. Slowly and carefully, they made their way, unseen, into the long shadows cast by the emerald flames.

"...and then I pushed him into the water!"

"And _I_ sent a shark after him!"

"And _I_ froze the water around him so he couldn't move!"

"And then _I_ turned the ice into bugs! But he wasn't very frightened,"

"You managed to find the one thing he _isn't_ scared of,"

"Everyone's afraid of bugs! How was I supposed to know?"

"We almost lost him! This is the easiest scare we've had in a long time. Besides, I don't know about you, but _I_ don't like to go back on a deal,"

"What deal?" Frida asked. She stood, trembling but defiant, in full view of the assembled Marra.

"Frida! It's good to see you again." Kelly's voice dripped with saccharine insincerity. 

"What _deal,_ Kelly?" Frida stood her ground.

"Well, your friend, like, totally _asked_ us for nightmares. And at first we were like, _no way_ , because what did he want nightmares for, anyway? But then _he_ was like, _my friends are testing out this suuuper powerful sleeping spell? And I'm their, like, guinea pig! So I need you guys-_ " she gestured to the other Marra, " _-to_ frighten _me awake. Every. Night._ " She grinned wickedly. " _Else, I might not wake up, like, ever_ ,"

" _Liar!_ " Frida screamed.

"Oh no, it's true, every word. He came to us, _begging_ for help, and of course I was all, _well, sure! So, Frida thinks she's a witch now?_ I said, _just look how her last little supernatural_ phase _turned out. You need all the help you can get!_ " She froze, the smile melting off her face. Her eyes glowed green and hollow. "He's asleep,"

"What do you mean, 'he's asleep?'" Hilda asked. "Is he okay?"

Kelly blinked, and the light faded briefly from her eyes. "I don't know. He never goes back to sleep,"

"The giants' spell," Frida whispered. She looked close to tears. She glanced up at Kelly. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Haven't you done enough?" The Marra turned to jade smoke, leaving Hilda and Frida alone in the dark forest.

"She's right," Frida said quietly.

"No, she's not. She doesn't know anything about you. But I do, and I know that you're not going to accept defeat just because some mean, insecure teenager tells you to. And you're certainly not going to leave your friend in the hands of the _Marra._ " Hilda set off toward the wall, and Frida followed.

\- - -

One harrowing bike ride later, Hilda scaled the drainage pipe up to David's window, which had thankfully been left open in the summer heat. Still, the climb was arduous, and to spare Frida (who had spent considerably less of her childhood climbing trees) the same journey, she tore a tangled sheet from David's bed and dropped it from the window, securing it with a bowline knot. Once Frida tumbled into the room, Hilda turned to David.

"He's not moving, or crying out or anything," she observed.

"That can't be good,"

They were interrupted by a flash of light. Several disgruntled Marra materialized in the small bedroom.

"He's not responding,"

"He's _resisting_ ,"

"Resisting?" Hilda asked, turning to the Marra. "Resisting how?"

"You again? Okay, look. David's in a dreamless sleep, and he doesn't want to leave it. When it's… _shallow,_ we can usually pull him out. But he's in too deep," explained the Marra with the pigtails.

"Send me in," Frida said.

"What? No! You're not even a Marra anymore,"

"Please," she pleaded.

The Marra relented. "Fine. But seriously, if we can't wake him up, no one can." She gestured lazily, and Frida's eyes filled with light. She crossed to David's bed, dissolving as she went into a plume of green smoke, and in a moment she was gone.

\- - -

_David succumbed. He was thoughtless, weightless, blind. He drifted beyond time and beyond fear. He was as content as he could be without consciously acknowledging his contentment. The surface of his deep sleep rippled, but storms at sea were the concerns of sailors, and David was long shipwrecked. The ripples ceased abruptly, and a presence in his mind withdrew, but David took no notice. He just drifted in a calm sea, in the place where light, green or otherwise, can't reach. Suddenly, a hand broke the surface. It plunged blindly into the darkness, soon accompanied by an arm, then another, a face, shoulders, reaching, diving recklessly into the unthinking depths. The hand fumbled and found David's, and when David opened his eyes he found a friend staring back at him._

_"David," she said,_

"David. It's time to go," Frida pulled him up, up, to the surface. Somewhere along the way, he started swimming, too.


End file.
